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As far back as he could remember, he’d yearned for a mate and a family. His own mother had died before his mind had been mature enough to properly remember her. In the wake of her death, his father had done the best he could to divide his attention evenly among his five children, but when Luka looked back on his childhood, he couldn’t help but remember feeling neglected.
He’d scarcely blinked when he’d first seen her, laughing with the other women in their shared home, worried if he took his eyes off her for even a second, she’d be gone. The home she’d been living in at first was far away from the shore, and he could only see the patio and part of the kitchen, but yesterday, as if drawn closer to him by an unknown force, she’d moved to the house that jutted closest to where he sat every day.
His sister, Asivva, seemed to be unaffected by her Traxian blood, but he and his brothers had struggled their whole lives to contain and repress that side of themselves. That side called for blood whenever there was a simple argument, or wanted to fuck when they should be making love.
The brutality and possessiveness that was a biological trait of his people had always caused his family nothing but trouble in the civilized city of Tremanta.
She was the clearest in his dreams, yet he couldn’t accept those as real memories. They were too good to be true.
In the dream, she’d run her hands all over his arms and chest, massaging him before finally pressing her body to his in an embrace and whispering unrecognizable words into his ear.
Frustration made his shoulders bunch. It was obvious from her pretty pout and scrunched brows that she couldn’t read the clock. He’d need to remedy that soon. If there was anything he could do to make her happy, whether it be imparting knowledge or commissioning the most beautiful clock she’d ever seen that displayed Earthling symbols, he needed to do it.
Luka pulled at a large clump of moss, snapping an attached twig as he did so. The sound echoed over the water, and he froze, watching to see if she’d heard. Sure enough, her head snapped in his direction, and her eyes scanned the area near where he was hiding.
It was him!!
Luka couldn’t recall the last time he’d tripped. He wasn’t a clumsy person, but her outfit and the fact that she was walking with another male made it impossible to focus.
The clothing she’d picked had her bare legs on full display. Shapely, tanned legs. He could just imagine running his hands up her thighs until they disappeared under the hem. The wind whipped, fluttering the light fabric higher and causing his mind to blank.
A large rock hidden by moss made him slip yet again. His ankle rolled unnaturally, followed by a sickening crack. He cursed, falling to a knee. When he peered up again, both Alice and Zed were staring at the tree line.
How was he supposed to sweep her off her feet if he was sporting a bum foot and an ever-present erection?
Just as he was starting to feel that a visit to the doctor was more urgent than the meeting, his enhanced senses picked up her scent. Like a slap across the face. I have to see her, he thought desperately.
Verakko, a green-skinned male from Swadaeth ancestry, spoke to her with a small grin pulling at his lips. In return, she smiled brightly back at him, laughing at whatever presumably inane thing he’d said.
He allowed his eyes to close briefly, inhaling through his nose to calm himself. Her scent hit him again like a bag of rocks. The sweet, feminine aroma called to him, making him want to rub his head in the crook of her neck.
Alice was momentarily stunned into silence. The last time she’d seen him, he’d been dirty and wild-looking. Now, his bruises were healed, and his skin had changed from a pale, scratched mess to a healthy bronzed tan. His hair, now clean, hung around his ears in dark brown waves she wanted to run her fingers through. Roaming her gaze down his body, she marveled at the bulging muscles of his crossed arms. It shouldn’t have been possible, but since being rescued, he’d somehow filled out even more.
His beautiful pale-blue eyes glared at her, and it looked as though every muscle in his body was on high alert.
Her initial heart-pounding joy at both seeing him and beholding his downright gorgeous face was snuffed out. She inhaled shakily. All of her worst fears were being confirmed. He was angry with her. Probably hated her for what she’d done to him in that cell. She’d been stupid to think they might be able to have a relationship after all that.
The skin near his forehead was a soothing shade of teal, but as it continued down toward his chin and neck, it faded into a vibrant green. His hair was cut short on either side and left long on top, allowing his pointed, pierced ears to be prominently displayed. Streaks of sea-green, aqua, and gray ran through his thick charcoal hair and matched the color of his heavy brows. Verakko was gorgeous but deadly looking the way a snake might be. When they’d first started speaking, his dry sarcasm and pessimistic disposition had added to his serpentine aura.
Verakko
“So that’s your mate, huh? I’ve met Luka a few times, but he’s never appeared quite so…angry.” Great, so it’s just me, then. “Yeah, I think he’s angry I’m his mate.” Verakko snorted. “Then he’s an idiot.”
“He’s right to hate me. I forced the marks to appear. I didn’t want to do what Helas said, but I didn’t have a choice, and now I’m Luka’s mate forever, and he hates me and…” Alice’s voice grew tight as she rambled on.
“Look, I don’t know what happened to you in that place, and I don’t know what Helas told you, but you can’t force mating marks to appear. They appear or they don’t, no matter the circumstances. They may show themselves at different times for different people, but there isn’t anything anybody can do to draw them out.”
“You’re his mate. He isn’t yours. If he doesn’t have enough sense to see how lucky he is to have found you, that’s not your problem. He needs you. You don’t need him.” He shot a glare toward Luka, then leaned in to whisper, “You tell me if he acts like a pishot, and I’ll make sure to hack into his home’s programming and make his life a living hell.”
“What’s a pishot?” “No translation for that, huh? It’s what you call someone who’s acting like an idiot or is a very unlikeable person. How to describe the actual meaning…” He narrowed his eyes, squinting toward the ceiling, and ran the tip of his pointed tongue over his sharp canine. “I believe it originated in the mountains where the Pesque live. I think it means ‘One who spits into the wind.’”
She felt heat rising on her cheeks. “After the meeting, could we talk outside?” “No,” he said swiftly. The knuckles of the hand still gripping his chair were white.
Hes a hurting puppy
“We should really talk. I want to apologize for what happened down there,” she urged, wondering if she was causing his sickly reaction. “I know you may not remember me or what happened, but I—” “I don’t wish to talk to you right now, Alice,” he said through gritted teeth, then sat back down, not meeting her eyes.
Awwww noooooo
Helas taught me the code. They clasp forearms and say, ‘Purity. Reform. Integrity. Clecania.’
Lucy began to snicker, and quickly covered her mouth. Everyone’s eyes focused on her, and she held up a hand. “Sorry. Sorry. It’s just…” She gave another small chuckle. “They call themselves PRIC?”
Rhaego, forgive me if I’m wrong, but your people may not give as much choice to human females as we will.”
The only way for human females to be protected is if there are laws put into place worldwide by The Galaxy Supervision Federation. Once we have revealed their existence and importance, we will need to have at least the beginnings of laws worked out with your contacts, Asivva. I’m afraid if we don’t, and we keep the females hidden here, the other cities will rebel. They will want the chance to visit and mate the females, and some of the more aggressive cities might try and take them by force.”
“And why would we not bring more humans here?” Alice eyed the pale woman. She was pretty, the way most of the Clecanians tended to be, but her dour expression lessened the effect. So far, she’d been watching the conversation with disinterest. Why had she been invited?
Vila a mole??
Alice’s annoyance and frustration finally began to outweigh her embarrassment and hurt at his earlier rejection. Before the Queen could respond, she stomped over to Luka. “You have no right to tell me who I can or cannot take lessons from. You’ve made it abundantly clear you have no interest in me, so I don’t understand why you even care.
On her way out, she heard a scuffle behind her; turning to look, she found Jade and Theo approaching a pained-looking Luka. He had risen and was now looming over the table, watching her with brows drawn, the way he used to look after Helas had hurt him.
“Alice is not Clecanian. She’s human, and I’m guessing by her reaction, she’s utterly offended right now. As well she should be. Most human women appreciate honesty. If you wanted to appear strong, congratulations, you did it. She now thinks of you as the strongest jerk around.”
“I can’t lie and say the bond isn’t causing me to have…intense feelings for her, but those feelings are more of a sexual and protective nature. I want her for those reasons, but they aren’t all. She saved me in more ways than one at the outpost. I was drugged, nearly out of my mind, but present enough to dimly understand what they were doing to me. If my foggy memories are correct, she was kind when she didn’t have to be. And brave. There aren’t many people who can boast that kindness and strength. My mating instinct may have drawn me to her initially, but she’s the only reason I was able to
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Her descriptions of a human relationship were too good for Luka to believe. Constant affection? Shared bed for sleeping? Luka had never in his wildest dreams thought those things were possible, even if he found a cure for Clecanian infertility.
He’d made it to the testing phase of the ceremony twice now, but had always refused to participate to avoid being chosen. He knew himself, and he knew what he wanted. A temporary wife was not that.
As Luka felt his palms grow damp with sweat, he realized it was different with Alice. He cared if she liked him. He wanted her to like him. To seek him out for conversations. He wanted to be a person worthy of her attention, and right now, he didn’t feel that way.
Crooking a finger under her chin, he angled her head up toward his. He inhaled deeply, his eyelids drifting closed. Her natural, sweet scent mixed with her arousal called to something deep within him. His already rising shaft shot hard in an instant. He’d smelled this before. He recognized it somewhere in the back of his mind.
She’d let him kiss her. He knew she would. But he didn’t know exactly what he was supposed to do. Did he kiss one lip at a time the same way he’d kiss the column of her neck, or should he lick and suck the way he’d kiss her nipples? Hoping she’d take the lead once he started, he lowered his mouth. Pressed his lips to hers and held them in place motionlessly.
Before he could pull away, she moved. She pressed her mouth firmly to his, rounding her lips. When he matched her movements, she parted her mouth slightly, letting her breath mingle with his.
The scent of her arousal had strengthened, driving his sense away. Both of his hands reached down to squeeze her round ass. He wanted to roar with pleasure when she moaned into his mouth. He lifted her easily, intending to carry her to the nearest horizontal surface. Her legs wrapped around his waist, putting her pussy in line with his cock.
Tucked into a private corner of the large open room, he spotted her bed. Walking them to the edge, he sank onto it. She continued to grind underneath him. If she didn’t stop soon, he’d come right there. Forcing himself to pull away from the kiss, he gazed down at his mate.
“I plan to have you in that bed as long as you’ll let me, and I don’t want those girls to interrupt,” he called over his shoulder. After the bolts sounded, he turned and walked back toward her, taking in the sight of her beautiful form reclined on the bed. She giggled. “What girls?” He reached the edge of the bed and knelt, eyeing the vee of her thighs. Mind too gone with lust, he answered, “The ones who come in without knocking.” Rising to her elbows and tilting her head at him, she slowly asked, “How do you know they do that?”
You are my mate. And even though your human body has learned to forget how to recognize me, I am yours. Deep down, you don’t want a normal guy, and I’ll prove it. I’ll give you your space, but I won’t give up. That’s a promise, Alice.”
Her body burned with unrelieved lust. She moved to the bed, intending to take care of her wet, throbbing need herself, but then stopped. Glaring at the windows to the patio, fury washed over her anew. He might be watching her even now.
Vanessa rose to her knees. She cupped her hands around her mouth, yelling into the tree line, “Luuukkkaaa! Are you out there, you big perv?”
“There’s something endearing about a guy who makes you the center of his world. As long as he’s not trying to control you, I don’t see a problem in how you feel about him.”
“You go get that ass.” Daisy smiled dreamily, sweeping her arms and legs through the water as though making a snow angel. The women all dissolved into laughter at the outrageous comment coming from the painfully shy girl. “I think you guys broke Daisy,” Alice wheezed.
As she turned onto the walkway that led to her house, she stopped short. Luka was sitting in front of her door, silently watching her.
